Min's Choice
by Izzu
Summary: Hello Monster. Post ep 16. Of the many options that Hyeon gave to him, Min finally makes a decision.
1. Message

_[I need to see you, Detective Cha Jian. It's really important.]_

A message from a mysterious person, with an address attached alongside.

Cha Jian glanced around the park to see if she could spot the one calling her to this location. She sighed. A bit reckless, wasn't she? To come over for an unverified message, not taking any precautions in case it was a trick to lure her away. But her instincts told her that it that should be all right, that there was no danger. Plus, the day was still bright.

Still, she was curious as to who was the one calling her. To have sent a message to her directly, not long after Hyeon return... that person must have some kind of connection to both of them. Not only to have contacted her at such timing, but also to know of her number. It couldn't be a coincidence, yet she was sure that it wasn't Lee Junyeong.

 _So who...?_

"Detective Cha, you came."

Her heart nearly gave a start the moment she heard the voice, even more as she turned to see that it was really Min standing before her. She let out a cry, before embracing the young man.

"Thank goodness... you're alive! Thank goodness," she exclaimed.

Min let out a confused gasp. "My brother, didn't tell you anything?" he asked, as Jian shook her head.

xxx

"Ah, I see. So _that's_ what happened."

He turned to look at her again as he frowned. "My brother _really_ didn't tell you anything?" Min asked again as Jian chuckled.

"I didn't press him to tell me. I know that he'd tell me everything once he was ready. Turned out he disappeared for a year before reappearing again, as if he'd done nothing wrong. So, what was the occasion for you to meet me here?"

Min smiled. "I guess this was why brother likes you a lot. Detective Cha, it's because you're so kind and patient. Ah well, it's because of the things you've said to me before. I've been thinking about it for a while."

Jian chuckled. "Ah, about your brother... I don't really—he used to tell me to get lost a lot that I'm always unsure of what he thinks about me. But you're not here to talk about your brother, right? So... what was it?"

Min turned towards her.

"I... would like to turn myself in. That's... what you liked me to do, right? As to not cause my brother any more pain. To atone for the things I did wrong and face the consequences for it. Right?"

Jian sighed. "Did your brother... _know_ about your decision?" she asked as Min shook his head.

"Brother didn't even know that I've returned. I wanted to tell you first about this, that's why I sent the message. Also, because I didn't want to be separated from brother again. And I liked you, Detective Cha. I don't want you to be disappointed with me... if I continued hiding. Or ran away. I don't want you to get angry at my brother too, when you found out about me."

Jian smiled as she ran her hand over Min's head and ruffled his hair. She placed her hand on his cheek as she looked at him fondly.

"You've done well. I'm proud of you. And you don't have to address me so formally any more, didn't you say before that you want to get along well with me?"

Min nodded. "Yes, I did. But Miss Jian..." he suddenly looked worried, "—doesn't this mean that I have to also talk about Unc—Lee Junyeong?"

Jian shrugged. "If you want. Since you've been with him long. Longer than Eunbok even. You remembered him, right?"  
Min nodded as she continued. "He had started to talk about Lee Junyeong lately, so the pressure on you to get more information about that slum bucket shouldn't be too much."

"But if you don't want to, I won't force you. Though I don't think that Lee Junyeong would care if you tell on him. That freak seemed to enjoy having people chasing him after all. Because judging on your brother's behaviour, I could tell that _that man_ would have wanted at least Hyeon to come after him."

Min giggled. "Yeah, that sounded like him." He took her hand and held it gently. "Thank you, Miss Jian. For having faith in me."

Jian smiled again. "Thank _you_. For having courage, to take responsibility for the things you've done."


	2. Heartache

Ever since he got into the car, he was slightly self-conscious of himself. Perhaps it was because he wasn't the one driving, he started to notice things around him even more. Or maybe, because this trip in particular was about sending him to police custody... perhaps it's due to that?

Min frowned as he noticed that Jian wasn't driving towards the police station. The car just missed the turning that would lead towards the direction of the district the police headquarters was in.

"Err... Miss Jian? Did you take the wrong road?"

He could see that she was acting strange. "No, we're not heading to the station. We could do that tomorrow. Or _much_ later," she said before glancing towards him. "Before that, don't you need to go home and see your brother? Surely your brother would want to see you again, right? Yeah, he should want to see you again."

"You could always tell my brother to come to the station—"

"No!" Jian suddenly snapped. "We're not going today. You... you just came back. So... anyway..." She suddenly shook her head. "We talk about this later."

Min could sense that she was troubled but decided not to ask. But it was deathly quiet in the car... and it was getting really uncomfortable between the two of them.

He recalled how lonely his brother had looked during the past year when he had stayed with him during his stay at the hospital. That despite his brother was happy that he was alive, he could sense that his brother was yearning to Jian again. It was then when he somewhat understood why Jian told him before that Hyeon would be unhappy if he chose to run away with him. Aside from the fact that his brother disagreed with him about the values that Lee Junyeong raised him with.

Perhaps talking about his brother would lighten the mood.

"Miss Jian, you really love my brother a lot. Don't you?"

Jian glanced at him from the rear-view mirror. "Erm... y-yeah. I guess so."

Min smiled. "So I take it you guys have progressed a lot, have you guys kissed yet?"

The car gave a sudden jerk as Min could detect the telltale signs of reddening on Jian's cheeks. Jian turned to look at him.

"Min, I was driving! Can you not ask these questions now?"

He chuckled. "How's kissing Hyeon for the first time felt like?" Min asked again as Jian let out a loud cry.

"Aah, don't make me remember that!" she said as Min continued to laugh. Determined to change the topic, Jian spoke again. "Anyway... Min, were you... still in contact with Lee Junyeong?"

Min sobered immediately.

"No. He left me for quite a while after putting me at the hospital. I suppose, even if you went there... you won't find any hints of his whereabouts. But that lady, she might still be there. The one who knew Uncle even longer than me. Miss Park Jua."

Jian cursed silently. "I knew it. She was an accomplice after all. But I suppose, even if we _do_ question her we won't get much." She saw the road signs pointing towards Hyeon's housing district as she exited the highway. She sighed.

"So what _really_ happened back then? When you went missing. Back then we've only found signs of physical scuffle and an injured Hyeon. There were also some blood on the scene—yours and Lee Junyeong's probably—but we knew nothing else other than that. Hyeon refused to say anything, and then we lost track of Lee Junyeong. Not long after that, Hyeon disappeared."

Jian glanced towards Min. "I assumed that Lee Junyeong killed you, but since you're alive..."

"Uncle _did..._ stab me," Min replied. "But for some reason, it wasn't fatal. I really thought I've died though. I tried to kill him, yet he let me live. He had Miss Park watch over me."

Jian gritted her teeth.

"So I guess even scum buckets like him can be merciful." She frowned before turning towards Min. "No offence, but that asshole shouldn't have ran off with you that time. He probably made Hyeon believe you're dead again, that scumbag!"

Min noted that Jian's mood was getting worse as he thought of a way to calm her down.

"So, the first kiss. Did my brother started it or did you?"

"Shut up," hissed Jian.

xxx

Hyeon's disgruntled face greeted her as the door opened, which made her want to laugh.

"What are you doing? You know you could just enter whenever you want. You know where the spare keys are, as well as many other things."

Jian shrugged as she walked in. "Well, I brought along a special person today... so I can't just barge in like usual."

Hyeon frowned, "What special per—" he gasped as Jian pulled Min to her side. "Min! How—?"

Jian shrugged again. "I was called on sudden date earlier—" she turned to look at Min for a moment before turning towards him again. "...but Hyeon! How could you..."

Her voice shook. "You should have told me. I would have understood. One year. Do you think it's enough to spend with Min for just that long and then come back to me? What if Min disappeared forever after that? Won't you—"

Hyeon stared at her guiltily, before pulling her into an embrace. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to worry... and I didn't want to put you in an awkward position," he let go of her as Jian looked up towards him. "Also, back then... I thought I'd only be finding Min's body."

Min came over as he hooked his arm around Jian's. "Miss Jian...I'm sorry as well, I—"

Jian gave out a long sigh as she brushed away a stray tear. "I'm fine. But it's just suck that instead of putting that scum bucket Lee Junyeong behind bars, I had to arrest Min first. I thought that now that you're back, both of us could started our pursuit on that guy. But instead of progressing on that... I can't believe I have to put Min behind bars first before getting that scum, "

"Arrest?" Hyeon gave her a puzzled look before turning towards Min. "Min, did you... decide to turn yourself in?"

Min turned to Jian. "Was that why you didn't want to right away take me to the station?" he asked as Jian nodded.

"I just can't handle having to explain to the team about Min's real identity and connection to Lee Junyeong and the murders and everything, right now by myself. " she sighed as Hyeon ushered both of them to sit down. He gave her another hug.

"I'm sorry to make things hard for you..." he said as he glanced around the house. "But since it's still a long time before sundown, why don't the three of us go out somewhere?"

Min's eyes brightened as Jian let out a louder groan. "Go out and do what? There wasn't any good movies right now and I don't feel like eating. And it's not like you're into amusement parks or in a mood for a drive..."

Hyeon grinned. "Amusement parks? Why not?"

Jian immediately straightened up and stared at Hyeon suspiciously. "Are you serious?"

Hyeon snorted. "And this time we're going to an _actual_ working amusement park. How about it?"

Jian started curling herself on the chair. "I'll pass. Go on with Min and have some fun without me. I'll watch over the house for you..."

Hyeon immediately stood up and grabbed her arms. "Geez... don't go turning into a 120-year old grandma on me now. You're coming along... or do I have to carry you myself?"

Min giggled, as Jian got to her feet at once and started poking Hyeon with her finger. "Don't you start stealing all my lines now..." she hissed as the three of them left for the amusement park.


End file.
